Scurrilous flyers have been peppering LAUSD board member Scott Schmerelson’s 3rd District. As former teacher, counselor and principal, the incumbent board member, Mr. Schmerelson, is challenged by Marilyn Koziatek, a community outreach spokesperson for a large charter school in that district, and by Elizabeth Bartels-Badger, a long-time political and community activist. The race has been quiet because Mr. Schmerelson is well-qualified as a current board member and former educator and unencumbered by overt scandal; a clear contrast with his opponents, neither of whom are educators though one is an administrator working in Education.
LAUSD3 includes the neighborhoods of {Canoga Park, Chatsworth, Encino, Granada Hills, Lake Balboa, Reseda, North Hills, North Hollywood, Northridge, Mission Hills, Porter Ranch, Studio City, Tarzana, Valley Glen, Van Nuys, Woodland Hills, West Hills, Winnetka}. Angelenos in these areas (or parts of some, see the map here) will choose between these two voting in the primary election of March 3, 2020.
Reproducing the flyer here would only serve its purpose of propagating fake news, but the stated provenance is significant as an: “Ad paid for by Families and Teachers United, sponsored by California Charter Schools Association Advocates. Committee major funding from Charter Public Schools PAC. Not authorized by a candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate.”
That is, the charter school advocate’s candidate Koziatek can (by design; all candidates may as well) maintain plausible deniability regarding the ad’s insinuations because her campaign did not design the ad. Sidestepping the candidate, another entity is responsible: a PAC called ‘Charter Public Schools’.
Continue reading “Prodigious Funding Drives Distorted Accusations in LAUSD3”